Boa Vista Cape Verde - Geography - Boa Vista Experience
Boa Vista Cape Verde Geography
Geography of Boa Vista Cape Verde
The Cape Verde islands (bottom left of image) off the west coast of Africa.
The archipelago of Cape Verde lies some 460 km off the African coast of Senegal and 1000km south west of the Canary Islands. Cape Verde consists of 10 islands varying in size form 35 km2 (Santa Luzia) to 990 km2 (Santiago) and several smaller islets. All of the islands have been formed by volcanic activity caused by hot magma chambers deep under the seabed. Every so often these magma chambers would erupt causing a volcanic mountain to rise from the sea bed and the result was a new island.
The Western islands are the youngest with Fogo being the latest creation some 100,000 years ago and it still has its active volcano. The more eastern islands including Boa Vista were formed millions of years ago and have been eroded over time to their present forms.
The isolation of the islands in the mid Atlantic has meant that life arrived here by wind or by sea over millions of years and in some cases has evolved into unique varieties only found on the islands. The unique geographical location has made the islands important to human history as well; they have been staging posts in the slave trade form Africa to America, Refuelling ports for coal powered ships crossing the Atlantic and a refuelling point for aircraft travelling from America to South Africa.
Boa Vista is the 3rd largest island of Cape Verde at 620 km2. The island is mostly flat with the highest point being Monte Estancia at 390m. Boa Vista lies in the path of the north easterly trade winds and these have largely dictated its current topography. The coastline consists of 55km of white sand beaches and there is a white sand desert in the north of the island. These sands are blown here directly from the nearby Sahara Desert on the Harmattan winds and they pile up on the western shoreline forming the great dunes of Chaves beach.
The oldest town on the island is Povocao Velha which developed near the salt pans in the south of the island, the supply of salt formed the basis for the islands early economy. Nowadays most of the population of 4500 people live in and around the capital of Sal Rei with its sea port and the town of Rabil near the airport; the majority of the remaining population is centred in the 3 towns that form the area of Norte (Cabeco dos Tarafes, Fundo das Figueiras and João Galego).
The surrounding waters of the Atlantic Ocean provide important feeding grounds for marine turtles and breeding humpback whales, as well as fishing grounds for both local and international fishermen. Recent studies have also found coral reefs of global significance off the coast of several of the islands, and the João Valente seamount — an underwater mountain range between the islands of Boa Vista and Maio — is a unique marine environment hosting a high concentration of fish and other species.
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